The war on airbrushed photos

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"Attention! The physical appearance of the person in this photo
was digitally enhanced". That will be more or less the warning to
readers that could appear next to glossy photos in French
newspapers and magazines.

This is the aim of a Bill presented by Valéry Boyer, member of the French Chamber
of Deputies for the UMP
party.

She is famous for her health-friendly political battles
aimed at including fruit and vegetables in vending machines and
eliminating the flight supplement for obese passengers.

According to Boyer, retouched photos distort
reality in the name of an idea of unattainable perfection,
which creates frustration among young people and those with
psychological problems.

"It's not a question of thwarting the creative flair of
photographers or advertising agents, my Bill defends public
health," said the parliamentarian, who has already collected the
signatures of about sixty other deputies and intends to present the
final version of her Bill by the end of 2010.

The "deceit" of retouched bodies would also be revealed in a
number from 1 to 4 according to the amount of digital enhancements
used to correct imperfections.

Inevitably, there has already been an uproar.

Many French photographers and journalists claim that the Bill
offends consumers' intelligence: they say readers are not taken in
so easily and are quite capable of distinguishing a natural body
from one that has been digitally retouched.